rig | NextWaveDV

Gear Review: Tilta FS700 Rig, Matte Box, Follow Focus & Battery Plate

Tony Reale — Wed, 18 Sep 2013 19:10:44 +0000

In this video, we review the new rig from Tilta for the Sony NEX-FS700 including the cage, matte box, follow focus and battery plate.

Gear Review: Zacuto FS700 Shooter camera rig

Tony Reale — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 16:48:30 +0000

The FS700 is a great camera but a bit larger than a DSLR. This means it is time for a new rig and what better one to put through the paces than Zacuto’s new FS700 Shooter.

Zacuto is famous for their heavy-duty camera rigs. The FS700 Shooter certainly follows this trend with its solid construction and streamlined design. The layout is pretty simple: a mini baseplate, a shoulder pad, counter weight and grip relocater all attached on Zacuto rods. The mini baseplate is nice and small. It doesn’t bulk up the camera at all while still providing rod supports and the option to raise or lower it depending on how far away you want your lens from the rods. The rods are some of my favorite rods of any camera system. They are very strong but still light-weight due to the hollowed aluminum design. Perhaps best of all is the matte finish to keep your accessories from sliding around on the rods.

The shoulder pad is comfortable for all-day shooting. The counterweight does a great job of balancing the camera while not being too bulky. And, every FS700 shooter will need the grip relocater. This allows you to position the FS700’s removable grip to a spot that is much more comfortable for shoulder shooting. With this setup, you can easily attach a monitor or EVF and have a full ENG style rig.

If we had to nitpick, there were a few things that weren’t the most ideal for our shooting style. My camera case doesn’t have room for the camera and baseplate together so I have to remove it each time I travel. This isn’t a quick ordeal since the screws for the baseplate are recessed inside the baseplate. This requires having the right sized screwdriver for the job. Also the shoulder support slides easily for quick rebalancing of your rig when swapping lenses or accessories. This also means that if you tilt up or down, you’ll have to hold the camera steady to keep it from sliding on your shoulder.

That said, the small quirks that we have with the FS700 Shooter don’t prevent it from being an amazingly high-quality setup and a great addition to anyone’s arsenal. Check it out at the Zacuto Store.

Watch our full video review below.

NAB 2012: Redrock Micro Ultracage and Update on the Micro Remote

Tony Reale — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 20:58:26 +0000

Brian at Redrock Micro goes over new rigs for the Canon C300 and DSLRs. Also the microRemote is getting ready to ship (pending Apple’s approval that is).

NAB 2012: Letus Direct

Tony Reale — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 17:15:19 +0000

Shane Hurlbut shows off the new Master Cinema Series rig system from Letus Direct and Ryan E. Walters demonstrates a prototype of a camera rotation system that allows for Dutch angles and crazy camera moves.

NAB 2012: Cinevate

Tony Reale — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 15:41:57 +0000

Dennis walks us through all that Cinevate lives up to the innovate root of their name, with bulking up cameras, lighting solutions, even to the catering to the need to be simple. He also demonstrates their new durable jib.

NAB 2012: Edelkrone Unique Rig Options, Folding, Dual Shoulder, and handle follow focus

Tony Reale — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 15:25:16 +0000

Edelkrone shows off their improvements to their shoulder and pocket rigs and a new design to a follow focus.

NAB 2012: IKAN Gear, Bags, Rigs, and Much More

Tony Reale — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 23:37:31 +0000

Ikan has proven itself to be a great resource for the small item needs of the filmmaker. This year at NAB, they released some great rigs for monitoring, a great new bag design, and many other creative items including iPad apps and accessories for teleprompter work.

VizTools: HandiZoom DSLR Shooting Solution for ENG

John Reed — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 22:21:04 +0000

With the need to shoot on the fly for ENG or situations that only allow for a quick shot such as concerts or other events, the VizTool HandiZoom looks to be an exciting answer to the DSLR shooter issues with focus and zoom while staying compact and on the fly. It seems to adopt the same functionality of the controls of a basic video camera with the ability to adjust single handed.

Seems to be a great solution, although no pricing has been announced yet. With that said, we would like to hear from you on what you think a realistic price range should be on the HandiZoom.

For more information:Â http://www.viztools.tv

Arri shows off their DSLR video accessories

Tony Reale — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 16:18:38 +0000

Arri has created cameras and camera accessories that have become industry standard, so it’s no surprise that their gear for DSLRs emanates quality. Here they show how they’ve optimized rigs for DSLR video.

Letus explains the differences between their Master Cinema Series and traditional shoulder rigs

Tony Reale — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 18:09:54 +0000

If Shane Hurlbut’s excitement for his new collaboration with Letus Direct didn’t convince you of the benefits of the Master Cinema Series rigs, then perhaps Aaron’s comparison will. In this video, we see how the MCS rigs are built to emulate true film style cameras and how the “traditional” rig designs that many of us have been working with for the past few years aren’t the best for filmmaking.